


You Know That

by prettydamnlame



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 22:50:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettydamnlame/pseuds/prettydamnlame
Summary: Tyler had never been prone to jealousy before he met Josh.





	You Know That

From his youth, Tyler had always been the type of person to earnestly compile a catalogue of all of his flaws and insecurities and neuroses. By his early twenties, he was convinced that he knew all of them: which ones surfaced at school, which ones were only present around his family, which ones were brought up in the company of his closest friends.

Which was why he reacted with some surprise, when on an average Friday afternoon in 2012, as he sat in the passenger seat of the van Twenty One Pilots used to shuttle themselves and their equipment all over the countryside, he realised he had developed an entirely new one: _jealousy_.

He’d never been prone to jealousy before.

And this was not the type of jealousy that had to do with success or money or material objects – Tyler would never be so petty – rather, it had to do with some _one_. It had to do with _Josh_.

Heart pounding uncomfortably fast, the singer knew this feeling was presenting itself because Twenty One Pilots had needed to travel interstate for this festival gig, and the fact that Josh had gone on a couple of days ahead without him to visit other friends that lived in the area had made Tyler _jealous_. It made him _jealous_ to think Josh would rather spend time with old friends then spend yet another cramped ride in their band’s tiny, stinky van talking and laughing with him.

When Tyler had sheepishly confided this feeling to Josh at the festival, Josh’s only response was to laugh and envelop Tyler in a bear hug, like the two of them had been apart for weeks instead of mere days. _You’re my best friend. You know that._

* * *

 

Which was why, on this particular evening in 2017 – one of the precious few he’d had simply just to _relax_ after the Emotional Roadshow and Tour De Columbus had finally come to an end – Tyler knew this feeling, this jealousy, was _irrational_.

After all he and Josh had been through together, after putting in years and years of hard, grueling groundwork side by side, there was nothing that could get between them.

Jenna always said that he and Josh were opposite poles of a magnet: they fit together, perfectly, and even when they were apart, they were always drawn back to each other.

Watching the Snapchat Josh had sent him again (for the fourth time in as many minutes), he could see that his best friend was at a Panic! at the Disco concert in California tonight.

Knowing Brendon Urie for the sweetheart he was, he’d probably personally invited Josh. Now, Tyler didn’t mind Brendon. Hell, Twenty One Pilots had toured with Panic! before. He thought Brendon was a good, funny dude.

But Josh was _his_ best friend. Not Brendon’s.

Tyler could hear Jenna singing to herself faintly in the kitchen, making them both hot chocolate. Before he could call out to her for advice – his wife's responses were always so measured and thoughtful, compared to Tyler’s hot blooded knee-jerk reactions – the singer’s fingers snatched up his phone again, and texted Josh.

**Show’s lookin good!!**

_So good man_ , came Josh’s reply instantly.

_Brendon wanted me to come on stage but I’m wrecked still so I wimped out_

_Haha_

Tyler grit his teeth, the overwhelming feeling of over-protectiveness when it came to his best friend lighting up like a signal flare inside his chest. They’d been off their official tour schedule for just three days and Brendon already wanted Josh on stage with him?

**U dnt have to do anything,**

**Its your time off!!**

_I know…_

_Are you ok ??_

**Im fine**

**Miss you**

_I miss you too_

**Are you up for a call?**

Tyler didn’t have to wait long for a response: within moments, Josh’s caller ID lit up his screen.

“Hey Ty, what’s up?”

The hot flare of feeling in Tyler’s chest dulled a little into a warm swirl of calm at the familiar voice.

“Not much man, it's good to hear your voice though!”

“Yeah, good to hear yours, too,” Josh confessed as well. He’d ducked away from the side of the stage where Panic! was playing into a well-lit, subterranean hallway in the hopes of finding a little quiet to talk to Tyler in. “I’ve been thinking – ”

Abruptly, Josh’s voice was drowned out by several other voices, and Tyler could tell that his best friend’s attention was in demand. It must be Panic!’s intermission right about now.

The jealousy flared again and the singer couldn’t bear it. “Talk later. When you’re not so busy.” The words, sharp and accusatory, felt like acid on Tyler’s tongue and stung Josh’s ears at the other end of the line.

The drummer felt as if a small punch had been delivered to his chest and he could barely even react as he heard the dial tone – _his best friend had hung up on him_ – in his ear.

Shrugging out of Brendon’s one-armed hug, pushing away the Red Bull being pushed into his spare hand, Josh raised his phone again apologetically. “I’ve gotta make a call.”

* * *

 

Tyler’s breath was coming in short, throaty gasps when he saw Josh’s caller ID lighting up his phone screen for the second time that evening.

“I’m _not_ busy.” Josh was the first to speak, firmly and decisively. “Now, _what’s wrong_?”

“You’re _my_ best friend!” The short, possessive statement meandered out of Tyler’s mouth in a thick, heady slur, the way a toddler’s first sentence would sound.

“And you’re mine,” Josh’s good natured, easygoing laugh chimed down the line into Tyler’s reddened ears. Josh was grinning from ear to ear. Tyler’s jealousy when it came to their friendship was one of his favourite things in the entire world. “Tyler, _you know that_.”

“I know that,” Tyler repeated his best friend’s words, feeling increasingly embarrassed by his own behaviour, breathing coming a little easier now. The singer leaned forward a little to rub his free hand over his slightly sweaty forehead. “Josh... once you’re not so wrecked, d'you wanna come out to Ohio and stay with us for a while?”

Josh was grinning again. He couldn’t wait to see Tyler’s reaction when the drummer told him he would be moving home to Ohio permanently.

“Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> Get your own fren.


End file.
